Back Home Again in Indiana: 11 Things to See or Do en Route to the Indy 500

Car and Driver

May 23, 2016

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By meteorological reckoning, the official first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere generally lands in the month of June. Here in the heartland, however, the season kicks off with Memorial Day weekend and the Indianapolis 500. The 100th running of the Indy 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 29, 2016 (Monday is the rain date). And while the action at the Brickyard offers more than enough incentive for most to make the trip, the Hoosier State also offers numerous automotive and offbeat roadside attractions worthy of a look. To help you plan your trip, we’ve gathered 11 of our favorites here for your consideration.

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Dallara IndyCar Factory

Address: 1201 Main Street, Speedway Distance from IMS: Less than one mile [map]

Located less than a mile from the Brickyard, the Dallara IndyCar Factory is a perfect stop for race fans who don’t wish to stray too far from the action. Currently the sole supplier of cars to the IndyCar, Indy Lights, GP2, and GP3 series, Dallara is also involved in Formula 3 championships around the world and participates in the U.S. Grand-Am series. (Gian Paolo Dall'ara, the company’s founder, counts Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini among his former employers, so he knows a little something about speed and craftsmanship.) With more than 23,000 square feet of interactive exhibits including racing simulators, a theater, a history wall, tech displays, and three wind-tunnel models imported from the Dallara facility in Italy, it’s a great way to get your Indy on before the green flag drops. And make sure to check out Lino’s Coffee, which serves authentic Italian espresso and coffee drinks along with panini, gecanita, gelato, and more. —Andrew Wendler

Nearly 40 years ago, Michael Carmichael of Alexandria innocently encouraged his son, then a toddler, to apply a coat of blue paint to a baseball. As of this writing, the ball has received an additional 25,128 coats of paint and weighs in at a hefty 5000 pounds. Housed in its own building, the professed “World’s Largest Ball of Paint” hangs from a sturdy steel I-beam; at least one new layer of paint is added each day. Why a supposedly otherwise sane individual would make painting a ball the focus of his life’s work is a question best left to Freudian types; we’re just glad that he had the balls to ask, “Why not?” Although the Carmichaels welcome guests, visits are by appointment only. Call ahead to schedule yours. —Andrew Wendler

The poster boy for the “Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse” ethos, Indiana native James Dean met his maker at the crossroads of California state routes 41 and 466 on September 30, 1955. Headed to a motor race in Salinas, California, Dean was behind the wheel of his Porsche 550 Spyder when fate intervened. His mechanic, who was riding shotgun, barely escaped death. A closed-coffin funeral was held eight days later in Dean’s hometown of Fairmount, and his remains were buried at Park Cemetery, less than a mile from his childhood home. Kissing Dean’s tombstone has become a rite of passage of sorts (the time-honored tradition of extinguishing a cigarette on the headstone has faded in recent years), and the James Dean Gallery, a museum and gift shop, is located right up the road to serve all of your memorabilia needs. —Andrew Wendler

Ask any off-road enthusiast: When the going gets really tough, sometimes the only alternative is to get out and jack it. And when it comes to jacking it, there is no more versatile a tool than the legendary Hi-Lift jack. Capable of performing jacking, winching, pressing, and numerous other duties, the Hi-Lift so impressed one of the company’s suppliers that it presented the manufacturer with a 20-foot-tall version to celebrate the company’s centennial in 2005. On display in front of the Bloomfield Manufacturing Company, the Hi-Lift’s parent company, the maxi-jack is constructed of cast iron and weighs 2980 pounds. Make sure to stop by with your rig and snap a pic. —Andrew Wendler

So what if it’s two hours from the track? The opportunity to visit a giant lady’s-leg sundial built by one of America’s premier nudists doesn’t come along every day. Founded as Club Zoro in the 1930s by Alois Knapp, a Chicago lawyer and German Nacktkultur proponent, the nudist resort kept a fairly low profile until it fell into the hands of one Dick Drost, who renamed the place Naked City and conceived and built the giant lady’s-leg sundial as a tribute to his love of the human form—and apparent aversion to mechanical timepieces. It now operates as the clothing-optional Sun Aura Resort. The building with the gold windows located directly behind the leg reportedly houses the offices, a restaurant, several billiard tables, and, naturally, a nude-mandatory hot tub. UPDATE: According to Sun Aura’s Facebook page, the leg is currently undergoing a comprehensive restoration in anticipation of the upcoming nudist season, so make sure to take your selfie stick. —Andrew Wendler

Race fans traveling from Chicago will want to make time to check out the John Dillinger Museum in Crown Point. Conveniently located just a few short miles off U.S. 65, the installation is the work of the late Joe Pinkston, a collector who spent years acquiring every Dillinger artifact he could get his hands on. Moved to the basement of the Lake County courthouse in 2015, the museum now resides just a city block from the jail cell Dillinger escaped from in 1934, and it includes such notable items as Dillinger’s death mask and lucky rabbit’s foot, as well as the pièce de résistance, Dillinger’s death pants, the trousers he was wearing when he was shot outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago. Free admission for active firefighters, EMS, military, and Hoosier Helpers, as well as active or retired police officers. —Andrew Wendler

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Studebaker National Museum

Address: 201 South Chapin Street, South Bend Distance from IMS: 146 miles [map]

Think of Indiana and the automobile, and there’s one storied brand that rises above all others—even beyond the racy jewels crafted by Harry Miller and the glitzy showboats turned out by Auburn Cord Duesenberg. That name is Studebaker. As a car-building concern, Studebaker was the one that was Hoosier to the core, while Miller spent much of his career in Michigan, and the Duesenberg brothers started their business in Saint Paul, Minnesota. For those of a certain generation, the old South Bend–based automaker is a failed marque that sits beside Nash and Hupp in the dustbin of vehicular history, but that’s giving a whole lotta short shrift to a company that began as a manufacturer of horse-drawn wagons and fought valiantly against Detroit’s consolidated heavyweights. So, while in Indiana for the race, why not stop by the Studebaker National Museum to offer some respect? See U.S. Grant’s presidential carriage! Marvel at the brilliant stylistic gee-whizzery of Raymond Loewy! See the last Studebaker to roll off an assembly line! After all, it’s the 50th anniversary of that car’s construction. There’s no better time to stop in and remember. —Davey G. Johnson

The small-block Chevy V-8 may claim to be America’s sweetheart, but there is a place where the love for Ford’s flathead V-8 runs strong. Dedicated to “honoring Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company products past, present, and future,” the Early Ford V-8 Foundation and Museum places an emphasis on Blue Oval V-8 cars from 1932 to 1953. The intrepid group of trustees and volunteers who run the museum and foundation have built an impressive collection that includes numerous cars, tractors, industrial rigs, memorabilia, and more. If it’s a Ford, there’s a good chance you’ll find it here. —Andrew Wendler

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum is one museum with a building as impressive as the cars inside. Housed in a three-story structure that used to be the Auburn Automobile Company headquarters and showroom, the 1929 building is an art-deco masterpiece—and a National Historic Landmark. The 120 cars on display include the largest collection of Duesenbergs under one roof, plenty of Auburns and Cords, and more Hoosier-made automobiles as well as other makes, mostly from the classic era. If that’s not enough, adjacent is the National Automotive and Truck Museum—housed in another former, but less grandiose, Auburn company building—and within that is the National Automotive and Truck Model and Toy Museum, with model cars and trucks from 1894 to the present. —Joe Lorio

If you are lucky enough to be flying to Indy this year, make sure to tip a wing in the direction of South Bend and take a gander at the Studebaker Pines. Located just west of town at the company’s former proving ground in New Carlisle, the approximately 8000 pine trees were planted in 1938 as a salute to the nation’s nascent aviation industry. The split image above depicts the tree line as of the latest available Google Earth image on top, accompanied by an old Studebaker promotional photo on bottom. Despite minimal upkeep, the half-mile-long sign is still visible today, although it certainly could benefit from a little pruning to sharpen the edges. Studebaker sold the facility to Bendix in the 1960s, and that company in turn donated the area with the trees to be utilized as a park/natural area. Bendix later sold the adjacent test facility to Bosch, which in turn sold it to Navistar. —Andrew Wendler